In this timelapse image from the Mars rover Curiosity, a laser attached to rover zaps an area of Martian soil, creating a small pit. (NASA/JPL)

Here's a thing you might not have known: The Mars rover Curiosity has a laser attached to it.

We come in peace, but equipped with a laser.

The laser isn't a weapon, of course. It's used to gather scientific data about the environment on Mars, of course, and not meant for defense purposes. The high-powered laser shoots more than a million watts in short bursts of about five one-billionths of a second, according to NASA.

When this laser, part of the rover's ChemCam system, is turned onto soil, it creates a small shockwave, which makes a pit in the target soil. It also produces plasma.

The time-lapse photo above, taken on May 11, 2013 in Earth time, shows the pit moving ever so slightly in each frame. The reason this happens -- and the reason why we're left with a creepy effect reminiscent of the horror film "The Ring" -- because the laser is shot into soil at an angle, NASA noted. As the laser is shot, the dirt falls back into the pit, and it appears to move.It's sort of like this: